Murray Christmas Skiptooth Score - JC Higgins

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the_undecider

the_undecider

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This popped up on CL last night, made contact with seller, and went to look at it this morning. I think it could be late 40s and it was advertised as 1950. From what I understand, Murray built bikes are harder to date by serial. This is repaint because you can see the original red underneath. Wouldn't be surprised if it was done in the 1960s from the looks of the Troxel saddle and matching Hunt Wilde grips.

The patina is gorgeous and I won't do a lot of cleaning. Just rebuild hubs, bottom bracket, headset, true the wheel, and maybe some tires. It has old Schwinn Cords that are dry rotted. Haven't decided if I want to try to remove all the blue to see what is left of the original paint.





 
BlueFlame said:
That's beautiful ! Ride it !
Click to expand...

It rides nice. I have tweaked on the wheels just a bit and rode around my street. The rear hub engagement is a bit slow as it slips for a second. Feels like something is winding up before it full engages. I'll be studying some Musselman hub diagrams before I pull it apart.
 
Nice find!
That is definitely a Murray built frame.
The wheelset looks original, I'm thinking it could be late 40s, early 50s.

The serial number should be under the bottom bracket.
They'll be MOx - MurrayOhio(year)
Below that will be the page number of the Sears catalog.

Post it here, someone will be able to help you out.

Cheers,
Dr. T


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Dr. Tankenstein said:
Nice find!
That is definitely a Murray built frame.
The wheelset looks original, I'm thinking it could be late 40s, early 50s.

The serial number should be under the bottom bracket.
They'll be MOx - MurrayOhio(year)
Below that will be the page number of the Sears catalog.

Post it here, someone will be able to help you out.

Cheers,
Dr. T


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

My serial is a little more detailed.

Top line reads "MOS-P"
Line 2 is "MOD 502 267"
Line 3 is "20 9337"

I found a thread on The CABE that indicates the "MOD 502" might be common to a lot of Murray Higgins bikes. There was one entry that led me to possibly a 1953 model. Were they still doing Skiptooth bikes then? I thought by about 51 they were just about phased out.
 
That date don't sound too far fetched to me. You could still buy a Black Phantom or Wasp ballooner from Schwinn in '58 so that was at the tail end of the ballooner era. Skip tooth does seem out of place for '58 but may have been switched from 1/2" pitch at some point. It's repainted so you know it's been messed with some at least. Gary
 
B607 said:
That date don't sound too far fetched to me. You could still buy a Black Phantom or Wasp ballooner from Schwinn in '58 so that was at the tail end of the ballooner era. Skip tooth does seem out of place for '58 but may have been switched from 1/2" pitch at some point. It's repainted so you know it's been messed with some at least. Gary
Click to expand...

You are right about someone monkeying around with it. The grips and saddle appear to be from a 60s Western Flyer. Still, I can't find this style of frame being produced in 1958. All of the Higgins ballooners seem to have switched to the style of frame where the lower top tube bends down sharply at the front like Dr. Tank's 56 Higgins. That frame style seems to have showed up around 1950. The only other Higgins bikes I have found with my same frame, chainguard, and peaked fenders are from right around 1949. It is a mystery why the serial number corresponds to a later date.

edit:

I found this page out of the fall/winter 1950 Sears catalog:

http://m.flickr.com/photos/zazdatabaz/4618068197/lightbox/

Bike at the bottom matches mine except for the saddle that was replaced.
 
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My Jetflow is a Skip tooth, and it's either a '56 or a '57. I never tried to nail it down, but I believe those are the only two years they were made.
 
this is from the 1957 Murray Catalog. as you can see they still had a straight bar frame. the N dates to 1957
1936.jpg
 
I am still trying to find a 1958 Sears catalog that shows a bike like mine. Seems by that time, the cheaper model sold was the middleweight Flightliner. No straight bar frames it seems were sold under the Higgins name in 58. I get that Murray still made straight bar frames into the late 50s and skip tooth survived into the same time frame, but I see too many signs pointing me to 1950:

-The fall/winter 1950 Sesrs catalog shows a bike like mine where nothing similar shows up in any 1958 sears literature
-my chainguard is like what I see on other 49-51ish Murray bikes. Later chainguards wrap around the chainwheel's rear side
-gothic fenders seem to be an older thing

Over on the cabe, I found more support for a 1950 manufacture date. Within one thread, user RMS37 posts:

"The information I have is composited from many sources but the current “best practices” code breaker I use for the Murray-Ohio serial letter codes came from ABC Services reproduction of a parts book for Western Autos bicycles (which is available from him on this site and on eBay.)The book is full of information and hard to find data but the caveat is that is was produced by a distributor rather than a factory so it needs to be interpreted in that light. It is also possible that the MO codes refer to a company specific fiscal year or otherwise derived model year which may not be in sync with the Gregorian calendar.Based on the book, Murray built Western Flyers were coded with a “P” in 1950. This seems to align with the coding for MO produced J.C. Higgins when features of documented bicycles are compared with catalog cuts."

and then reiterates:

"MOS P indicates the bike is a Murray code indicating the bike was built for Sears and that it is a 1950 model (allow for the previously mentioned caveats on that count.) "

I hope I am not coming off as difficult, just being inquisitive.
 
I have a copy of a vintage parts catalog that says "P" is the code for 1950. And that is what it looks like (excepting seat, grips and pedals).
 
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